thats exactly how I feel. He hasnt looked great but if you look at his competition, they are the kind of fighters that it is hard to look great against and he's done well. the hate for him is unwarranted I think.
Taylor deserves a lot of respect and he's one of my favorite fighters right now. I don't understand why anyone would hate him unless you're a Winky fan or a Hopkins fan(which I am but still don't hate Taylor).
We're giving him credit for doing what fighters do FIGHT! Legitimate opponents.? He is the middleweight champ of the world & his last two fights were against 147-154 fighters? He had to fight Hopkins to earn the crown and then fight him in a rematch (a clause in all champions contracts) Winky is tough, but no power at all & Talor was fighting the #1 contender! I was one who didn't see him taking this fight, but my hats off he's doing what he is supposed to do fight the #1 contender. Kudos to Taylor for fighting who you are supposed to!
The Spinks and Ouma fight mean nothing at this point. Taylor is facing Pavlik and if Jermain is nothing more than a hype job then he should be easily dispatched by Kelly. I'm worried for the Taylor haters, though. They're pretty confident at this point that a Pavlik KO is a certainty. It could be rather painful after the fight if he Taylor manages to hang on and finish the fight and, GASP, maybe even win a decision. Ah, but then we can just blame HBO.
He gave Hopkins an immediate rematch, when he could very easily have played it safe, and taken an inferior fighter ij his first defence. He then fought Wright immediately after Hopkins, when, once again, he could easiily have taken an inferior opponent. And, those 157-154lb fighters were both titleholders at 154lbs, and could hardly be classified as "gimmie" opponents. Taylor has, indeed, fought legitimate opposition, which is something champions are supposed to do. However, a lot of champions play it safe, and face journeyman at some point during their reigns. Taylor hasn't done that, and deserves creidt for that.
Well...he didn't take Joe Calzaghe's challenge for one. Anyway. Not to be overly cynical or anything, but he hasn't fought for free. Most of these people he's being lauded for fighting just happen to have been some of the most lucrative fights he could have taken.
Nothing wrong with money is there, after all that is the reason that they do it. NO ONE fights for free. With that being said, Taylor could have fought scrubs and bums like Hatton and Cazlaghe has done for years and still made money. He fought good fighters, all former champions, and half p4p top 10 guys. You would really be hard pressed to find a fighter that has fought that tough since winning a title.
Finally, a thread that makes sense in regards to Taylor. He's fought good comp and wins. Of course I wanted to see him deck Ouma and Spinks, but Jermain had as much to do with him NOT knocking out Ouma and Spinks then they did. Ouma is tough as hell and Spinks runs like hell.
I do not like Taylor's style, I don't like how he wins when I think he shouldn't, but I have nothing against the guy, I don't know him. One thing that is good about Taylor is that he takes on very good or great fighters every time out, no breaks, and I like that.